On February 18, 2025, Vietnam’s National Assembly approved a major government restructuring, consolidating ministries and agencies, eliminating specific National Assembly and Party committees, and dissolving multiple state-run organizations to streamline operations and support economic growth. 

During the restructuring, the Ministry of Finance has notably merged with the Ministry of Planning and Investment as the (new) Ministry of Finance. Accordingly, the customs authorities (including the General Department of Customs and other provincial customs departments) are reorganized as shown in the table below:

Advantages for Businesses

The restructuring aims to reduce the number of contact points businesses may need to interact with. Vietnam Customs would eliminate 485 intermediate points  (approximately 53.77%) at the central and provincial levels. We foresee that businesses could expect fewer customs processing points and may save time for customs procedures for imported/exported goods.

Potential Challenges

On the other hand, the customs restructuring, while aiming for long-term benefits, may present some challenges for businesses, including:

• Uncertainty in regulation interpretation/execution regarding customs and trade: Changing names of relevant customs agencies triggers the need to change relevant customs regulations. In addition, merging ministries also involves changing rules and procedures that customs authorities have to implement. While the Ministry of Finance and other Ministries are amending/drafting regulations regarding customs and trade, there could be misleading interpretation/execution regulations in carrying out customs procedures.
• Customs clearance delay: Centralized customs declaration via the customs system may lead to a bottleneck of import/export customs declaration entries. Reorganizing customs internal organization may also lead to changing the coding system and hence may cause system delay.
• Potential error in settling duties and taxes: Restructuring may lead to changing the customs sub-departments names in charge of customs clearance for imported/exported goods, hence changing duties and tax payment details. Businesses may encounter payment to obsolete customs authorities and may be unable to clear customs procedures for imported/exported goods on time.

Recommendations for Businesses

As Vietnam's Customs in particular, and Vietnam’s political system, in general are undergoing significant transformation, businesses should take the following steps to navigate this period effectively:

• Understand the roles and responsibilities of the new customs structure and establish clear communication with the local customs agencies and the central customs level to avoid customs clearance delays.
• Review the customs and trade regulations to ensure customs compliance.
• Reach out to business associations or consultants where necessary.

For more information about Vietnam's customs procedures , contact Tradewin for assistance.